Life After Death
by taylortot
Summary: AU. Misaki's plans did not always work out the way she imagined them. She did not plan on being separated from her mom and sister during the worst plague breakout in history or that Usui Takumi would be her best bet at survival. But more importantly, she hadn't planned on falling in love with him. The end of the world, she thought, could make a person a little bit crazy.
1. The Breakout

AN: I've always wanted to write an apocalyptic au for my otp and I'm finally getting off my butt and writing it. Hope you like! I'll try to update regularly, but feedback helps!

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Chapter 1

The Breakout

The breakout came quietly and unexpectedly. Everyone knew about the strange illness sweeping across the world, but nobody suspected just how bad it would be. No one told them it was deadly or terrifying. No one had given any of them a reason to believe that life would come to a screeching halt as the world descended into a chaotic scramble of death and disease. A little bit of warning would have been nice.

Misaki was at work when the breakout hit her little hometown on the edge of the city. In a matter of three hours, she had gotten separated from everyone she knew and had no way of knowing if her mother and sister were okay. Even though the sky had turned dark, the horizon was red with flames as the city went up in smoke and Misaki pressed her back into the cold brick of the supermarket.

She could hear the screams coming from inside as people either fought desperately with one another, demanded help, or became full of terror. It was almost certain that going inside was a bad idea, but she had no vehicle to get back home and with the way things were going, it would be a couple days of sneaking around before she finally reached her back door.

"Remember the plan," she whispered to herself as she took a calming breath. She felt anything but calm. Her hair was a mess, her skirt ripped up the side, blood splattered against her legs. If she thought about how that blood belonged to her coworkers, she might throw up or pass out, so instead she gritted her teeth and inhaled sharply through her nose.

The plan. Misaki always had plans. With plans, she was organized and her tasks were understandable and achievable. They kept her on track, which meant that she made a habit of categorizing everything in her life.

She was to go into the store and get what antibiotics she could get her hands on. Stay as far away from the weapons section as possible. Grab a couple boxes of food and a couple of water bottles. Get out and try calling home again. If that didn't work, she was going to call her friends and see if she could find them. With a pang of fear, she prayed silently that they were okay.

Her backpack was big enough for the short, risky salvage run into the store. She was almost grateful she'd had to go straight to work after school and her school books were lying in a trash bin a couple blocks away. Bracing herself one last time, she pushed away from the wall and slunk around toward the entrance.

A series of gunshot rang out from inside and the commotion got louder. People streamed down the sidewalk in a panic, their hands tearing at each other's clothing as a chorus of horrible, scratchy moans followed the terrified mass. Misaki swallowed the lump of fear and leapt inside, using the fear to power her determination. She didn't know what was going on yet - she had only seen the panic of the people and knew something was worse than bad - but she wasn't going to be stupid about it.

Luckily, most people seemed to be clustered on the food side of the store and the medicine aisles were nearly clear; most of the looters were behind the pharmacy counter. Misaki hastily plucked boxes of antibiotics and other medicines from the shelves and shoved them into her backpack, feeling her heart pound in her throat. Without any hesitation, she sprinted through the crowd toward the boxed food aisle and chanted the plan in her head over and over.

A few more gunshots thundered across the crowded store and Misaki ducked instinctively her eyes stinging as she pushed through a cluster of people. Her trembling hands snatched boxes of crackers off the shelves. This was taking too long. There were too many people, she realized. If she didn't get out of here soon, she wouldn't be getting out of here at all.

The crowd of people seemed to squeeze in on her. A baby was crying in her ear, a child screaming in the next aisle over. She felt arms and legs brush against her, push her into the shelving system. Someone stepped on her foot and another hand yanked at her skirt. Though it wasn't explicitly guaranteed, she could be trampled if she didn't find a way out soon.

But how? Her amber eyes looked for an opening but all she could see were a smear of clothes and knots of limbs; tangled hair and wide eyes. That didn't leave her much of a choice then. Despite knowing that whoever was shooting guns off at the back of the store would be able to see her as a target much more easily than anyone else, she scaled the shelves and leapt across the aisle and the teeming mass below her.

A sense of euphoria burned in her muscles with the knowledge of victory - she felt cunning and resourceful as she jumped over another aisle, clutching her back close to her side. Maybe she'd be okay.

The water was a lost cause - if she tried to stop for water, she didn't think she'd get so lucky the second time, so she used the shelves to cross most of the store to the check out lanes. By the time her feet had hit the ground and she was running, she glanced back over her shoulder to notice that others had begun to follow her example.

Fall was just around the corner so it should have been cool outside, but once Misaki raced through the doors she was enveloped in a lukewarm humidity, and the air seemed to smell like something rotten.

She ran back into the alleyway she'd been hiding in only ten minutes before and pressed her back into the brick like she wanted to disappear. Fear made her chest tight and her head cloudy and it took a few minutes before she could breathe again.

"Plans change," she reminded herself, doing her best to ignore the general panic that seemed to be trying to suffocate her. Her hands still a little shaky, she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and dialed her home phone number. She pressed the plastic to her ear harshly and glared at the dark wall in front of her, her other hand still clutched tightly at the strap of her backpack.

"Pick up, Mom," she murmured, trying to keep the fracture out of her voice. She waited for five minutes but no one answered. Misaki took a deep breath to steady herself before hanging up and dialing Sakura's number, her stomach twisting with unease as a cluster of inhuman sounds clogged the air. Something bad was coming.

"Misaki?!" Sakura answered in breathless relief and Misaki felt as if she could cry from the sudden jolt of happiness.

"Sakura, it's me."

Sakura sounded as if she _was_ crying. "Misaki, Shizuko is here with me - we were both so worried about you! She was at my house when people started screaming and my parents are out of town for the weekend. What do we do? I'm scared!"

Misaki trembled, wishing she could alleviate her friend's terror. "Do you know what's happening?"

"Shizuko and I locked all the doors and windows of my house and we're trying to find a station on the TV and the radio that will tell us what's going on. Where are you?"

"Something happened at work. . .Miss Satsuki rushed me and the rest of the girls out the back door before we could see what was happening in the store and I got separated from them in the crowd of people that was running down the street," Misaki told her, her knees feeling wobbly. "I found a store and got some medicine and a couple of boxes of food but I'm at least a half hour drive from home and something tells me I won't be hitching a ride anywhere anytime soon." There were more gunshots and police sirens started up, piercing the air harshly. A garbled chorus of angry moans followed and they were getting louder. She itched to run.

"_Misakiiiiii_, I'm scared for you!" Sakura's voice was thick with emotion, her words almost incoherent.

"Sakura, breathe," Shizuko's voice echoed over the phone as she snatched it from the distressed girl and pressed the cell to her ear. "Misaki, you need to find a safe place to be until it's morning. We don't know what's happening and you shouldn't be out there alone."

Misaki felt a little more collected at the tone in Shizuko's voice - the matter-of-factness was a balm to Misaki's frayed nerves. "I'll do my best. You and Sakura ought to stay in the house. I'll come by tomorrow." Sakura's house was on the way to her own neighborhood anyway.

"Stay safe, Misaki," Shizuko said with feeling.

"I'm the epitome of safety," Misaki joked weakly before allowing herself a tired smile. "See you soon." She hung up and took another deep breath and almost succeeded in gathering her thoughts when a crash sounded from the dark end of the alley. She spun toward the noise quickly, and felt bile rising in the throat at the sickening _thump slide_ of the footsteps, the unbearable stench that suddenly permeated the humid air.

"Hello?" she said, though every instinct in her was screaming to run.

An animalistic groan answered her and she did not stay long enough to see the offender step into the light. Her hands gripped tightly at her phone and her backpack as she turned and fled. She thought that if she ran any faster, she would fly.


	2. The Classmate

AN: Ahhh I'm so happy that some people are actually reading this haha. The chapters will probably get longer as we go on, but for now, there is this. Feedback is cool! Thanks for reading!

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Chapter 2

The Classmate

She only stopped running when she came across a hardware store that was empty and dark, the front windows shattered and the door unhinged and crooked. Most people were starting to get off the streets now and this one was nearly empty, making her stomach turn with nerves. Misaki tried to quiet her labored breathing and stepped through the window pane. There had to be a back room like an office, and she was willing to bet that locking herself in and barring the door was about as safe as she would get for the night.

She was doing a good job at staying quiet until she tripped over a couple of boxes strewn across one of the aisles and she swore loudly as she fell. _Stupid_, she thought, _everyone in a five mile radius heard that_.

A male voice erupted from the dark. "Is someone there?"

Misaki froze, her heart squeezing painfully in terror. Her sudden panic was so stark that she didn't realize that the voice was familiar. She scrambled to her feet and checked her backpack, holding her breath as if that would give the illusion she wasn't there at all.

"Hello?" They sounded strained and worried, and there were footsteps coming nearer. She backed up too far into one of the shelves and more boxes fell to the ground, making even more noise. _Of course_, she thought, angry with herself. "I'm not going to hurt you. Are you sick?"

"I'm not sick," she said, though she trembled to understand what his words truly meant. A flashlight beamed down the aisle and illuminated her. She squinted against the brightness and raised a hand to block her eyes. "Are you trying to blind me? Put that down."

There was a click and then they were left in darkness again. "Ayuzawa?"

Abruptly, his voice registered in her mind. "Usui Takumi," she hissed out.

Usui Takumi was a boy who was in her class. She mostly knew the boys who were trouble makers but the only reason she knew Usui was because he had a habit of making girls cry when he rejected them. He was good at everything and modest about it, which pissed her off, especially since the boys at school tried to use him as some sort of leverage in getting what they want. As if Usui was any competition against Misaki Ayuzawa, the Student Council President.

"Don't sound so glad to see me," he murmured as he drew closer, dropping his voice lower. There was something about the way he spoke that felt intimate and she was wary instantly - she'd never trusted guys much since her dad left her family behind when she was younger. Now that her life was hanging in the balance, she was even less inclined to trust them.

"Don't come any closer," she warned in a low voice. She'd spent a couple years in self defense classes and she wasn't afraid to use that.

He paused. "I'm not your enemy, Pres," he said softly. "Anyway, where are your weapons? And don't you know better than to wander into a store in the dark without a flashlight? People are going crazy right now; if it had been anyone other than me, they probably would have attacked."

_Crazy? _Misaki felt sick to her stomach and a bit irritated at this his inquiry. As if he had any right to know her story at all. "I don't need a lecture from the likes of you," she replied cuttingly. "I'd say it was nice to see you, but it wasn't." She turned to leave but a hand shot out and pinned her shoulder to the shelves. She gasped in indignation.

"Don't be an idiot," he said though he had the audacity to sound amused. "You can't go out there unarmed. You'll die." There was a pause, and then, "Well, you'll die_ sooner_."

"Let me go and leave me alone," she snapped, pushing him off of her. "And don't touch me again, you pervert!"

His hand clapped over her mouth suddenly and her anger rose as her face flushed with heat. She tried to rip his hand from her face when she registered the change in his posture and he quietly whispered, "Shhh."

She froze, realizing how stiff he was and stopped struggling. A horrible sob floated through the air from the front of the store, almost a choking sound, as if someone was trying to speak and couldn't, and Usui leaned in close, his lips touching her ear. "Follow me."

She didn't want to meet whatever was at the windows so she let him grab her wrist and pull her to the back of the store. They stepped lightly until they reached the cashier's counter and had to climb over it. Misaki's shoe squeaked on the laminated tabletop but the coughing and broken cries from the front of the store didn't change, causing her heart to slow a bit once she was behind the counter; at least no one was coming in after them.

He pulled her into a small room and shut the door, barring it with a heavy chair. With a sigh of relief, he flipped the light switch on and hopped up to sit on the desk. Her eyes had to adjust to the sudden brightness as she took in her surroundings. There was a blanket, a couple of books and a water jug tucked under the large desk, the cushion from the chair leaning up against the wall. On the far side of the room, a small window was covered with a black jacket.

"You're an awfully aggressive woman, you know," Usui said, regaining her attention. He was inspecting her as though she was something interesting.

"I know," she responded as she stood there awkwardly, glaring at him. "_Don't_ touch me again."

He smiled then, genuinely, and cursed how attractive he was. His blonde hair was a mess, and there was a scratch that ran along his jaw, his shirt torn and spattered with blood. His green eyes glittered in the fluorescent lights and she thought it was unfair that he could do that. No one ought to look so flattering _this_ unkempt under fluorescent lighting.

He hopped down off the desk and tucked his hands into his pockets. She thought he looked like he belonged in a magazine and not here at the end of the world. "I think we'll be safe in here tonight."

"Do you know what's going on out there?" she asked a bit reluctantly, clutching at her backpack straps. He eyed her for a moment, something sad about the fix of his mouth.

"I saw the janitor at my apartment complex get his throat torn out by his manager's bare hand and almost lost an arm to someone who looked like they'd seen hell." He leaned a hip against the desk and stared at her. "I'm just as confused as you."

He watched her face and she wasn't sure what he found there but he lifted his shirt and pulled a knife from the little sheath acting as his belt before holding it out to her. "You're going to need this, Ayuzawa."

Misaki took the blade from him after a moment of hesitation, but if there were people walking around killing other people, then she wasn't going to fight over it. She was actually pretty handy with a knife, and she was surprised by the unexpected comfort it gave her. Shrugging out of her backpack, she placed the knife in the side pocket, hilt sticking out so she could grab it in an emergency.

"Thanks," she muttered, her face feeling hot. She wasn't going to say it any louder. "Where did you even get all of this stuff?" She motioned to the nest of blankets and books.

"It's easy to get out when you live alone," was his cryptic response.

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Misaki woke up the next morning with her head on the chair cushion, roused by the sound of Usui packing up camp. Her eyes felt sticky like honey and her stomach lurched with a sudden flash of terror at her current situation but she pushed it away quickly and steeled herself for a long day on the run.

"Sleeping Beauty, finally awake," Usui hummed silkily. "Have any sweet dreams?" She made an obscene gesture, coercing a laugh out of him as he slipped into his jacket and slung his bag over his back. "Get up, then. It's still early, but the sun is up and the days are getting shorter. We need to move as quickly as possible if we're going to make up for the loss of daylight."

She rose to her feet, combing her hair with her fingers, a little self-consciously. "We? What makes you think I'd let you come with me?" She was impressed by how disgusted she sounded; being alone out there in a world full of diseased people that Usui said were killing others did not appeal to her in the slightest, but she didn't want him to know that she felt better at the prospect of his irritating company. She could take care of herself, but she'd been told before that two is better than one.

"Non-optional," he smirked. "Lucky me, stuck with someone as fearless as Ayuzawa. I'm only increasing my own chances of survival, you know. You're one amazing woman."

She rolled her eyes and slipped her backpack back on, taking the knife he gave her in one hand. It was too bad that there wasn't a bathroom around. She would pay money for the pleasure of washing her face and brushing her teeth right now. She was far from feeling amazing. "Don't say things like that about me, pervert. You don't know me."

He shot her a smug look. "I know you work part time at a cafe as well as hold the position of student council president, while maintaining grades that nearly match mine," he told her. "That's amazing."

Her face got hot - how had he known about her part time job? She didn't exactly advertise it. "I like you better when you don't talk."

Usui grinned as he moved the chair away from the door. "But you _do_ like me."

Her face went red as a stoplight as her eyes caught on the two other knives secured at his belt and a. . .gun? Where did he even get that? "That's not what I said! Idiot!"

"Shhh," he shushed her as he opened the door and stepped out into the cashier space. Misaki swallowed her irritation and clutched her knife tighter. He bowed and winked at her, whispering, "Your lead; I'll cover you."

She took a deep breath and climbed over the cashier station, her footsteps soft as she started down the tools aisle. For good measure, she grabbed the largest wrench she could find and tucked the knife back into her backpack's pocket, clutching the tool like a baseball bat.

When they made it to the front of the store without incident, Usui touched her shoulder to keep from walking outside.

"Looks clear but I don't know how much we should trust that," he whispered, his mouth close to her ear again. Her face went hot and she licked her lips as she resisted the urge to shove him away.

"We need to go this way," she whispered back, motioning toward a smaller side street about a block away. It was eerily quiet outside as the wind swept through, like a whistle, and Misaki was disturbed by the absence of human bodies. Where were the police? The medics? What the hell was going on here? "I need to make it to my friend's house; they're waiting for me."

He nodded and pointed at the empty buildings. "I don't know if those who go crazy die from whatever is infecting them, but we should do our best to not draw attention to ourselves." After another quiet moment, he murmured. "Please stay close to me."

She shrugged out from his hand and slunk out the door. "Then don't wander off," she whispered back harshly, vexed by his assumption that she would need protecting.

He blinked, but a smirk curled at his mouth. "I won't."


End file.
